Twelve New Bindings

We ask more of our bindings than to simply keep our feet attached to our board. We need them to be supportive and efficient at transmitting power, but still flex when we need to tweak; to be durable, but not too heavy; and to be easy to use and adjustable. Here’re some winners that fill a big order.

Bindings 1-12 correspond with photo on the left (click to go huge).

01. B By Burton Notori (Women’s)These are part of the matching collection including the Alpha board and Modern boots—all sold separately, but designed using TrueFit to work best together. The high-fashion Notori’s feature conforming Super Capstraps, soft leather detailing, and some of the best ratchets in the business. $200, burton.com

02. Burton P1 SZIt’s the P1 with a twist—well, actually a pull. The star feature is the Speed Zone (SZ), which will appeal to some riders more than others. Built for ease of entry—strap in by fastening the strap to the loop, and tighten down by tugging on the cord. No more ratcheting up the ladder every run. $300, burton.com

03. Drake MentorA combination of aluminum power transmission and nylon dampening make up these high-end binders. The easy Slider heelcup adjusts your boot for perfect positioning, and the strap lengths are easily adjusted without a tool. Drake backs its bindings up with a lifetime warranty on all baseplates and heelcups. $230, drake-bindings.com

04. Flow M9This is Scotty Lago’s binding of choice—part of the new M series. This freestyle machine was built to be lightweight and versatile. The weight reduction is achieved through the ventilated highback and baseplate. The sleek I-Flex powerstrap is designed with larger cutouts to conform with your boots but still allow tweak room, resulting in an efficient energy transmission through the Flow Power Triangle. $210, flow.com

05. Flux Team in Target Pat Milbery DesignThese bomber binders have all the bells and whistles, plus a new L-Guide on the ankle and toe straps for smoother ratcheting. The one-piece, nylon highback features tool-free forward lean adjustment—the ankle straps are also toollessly adjusted up and down. The Team line is also available in the Zipper Corey Smith and MH4 Matt Hammer models. $200, flux-bindings.com

06. K2 Auto BindingA new lightweight, freestyle model from K2 featuring the time-saving technology of the Auto System. An internal system connects the toe and ankle strap so that when you ratchet down the ankle strap, the toe tightens along with it. The toe strap tension can be set independently to return to the same tightness every time—no more, no less. $230, k2snowboards.com

07. Raiden Meyen Eris (Women’s)These Janna Meyen pro models are some of the lowest profile bindings out there. Highlights include a big chunk of gel dampening under the heel (the RAD system), super slim toe straps that stay out of the way, and tool-free strap and forward lean adjusting. These bindings are like Janna—quietly getting the job done.$229, raidenbindings.com

08. Ride Beta MVMNTHey look, it’s our old friend fashion meets function. The Beta MVMNTs start with a fully functional binding with a mega-mobility ankle strap for extra tweakage, and a toe strap that works as either a toe cap or toe strap depending on your riding preference. Mikey LeBlanc rides these, so you know they have extra cushioning—a urethane “Rollbar basepad. The fashion happens with custom hand spraying and added bling. $250, ridesnowboards.com

09. Rome Targa NWUnlike Rome, these bindings are all about conforming—to your style of riding that is. Every binding comes with three interchangeable plastic flex inserts for fine-tuning the flex on the ankle strap. A total of nine configurations are possible for tweaking in the placement of those same ankle straps. Add to that a toe strap that caps or lays flat and multiple boot centering and forwaard lean options. $240, romesnowboards.com

10. Salomon Relay ProIt’s what you don’t see that makes the biggest impact—the Tensor system is composed of two wires going from the highback to an alloy rod running along either side of the baseplate, which act to drive more power into heelside turns. The soft heel loop works together with the ankle strap to tighten up the binding from the front and the back—a bear hug of a binding if you will. $249, salomonsnowboards.com

22. TechNine MFM ProThese are the bindings that MFM designs to mount on his stunts, redesigned this year with a new cushioned pro base and new adjustable pro toe and heel ramps. They come with the O.G. Baltimore toe strap (in an ultralight MFM pro build) and tool-free ankle, toe, and forward lean adjustment. $245, technine.com

12. Union Force MCThese are the highest of the high-end with top of the line materials including full carbon-fiber highbacks and toe ramps with a super strong magnesium heelcup, and meta mesh toe cup straps—you won’t know whether to mount clean-looking bindings on your wall or your board. Includes a lifetime warranty on all baseplates. $399, unionbindingcompany.com